A COMPLETELY NEW RELATIONSHIP... WITH FOOD

Hello Hello!

I just finished watching Jacques P :) on PBS, and he is just adorable! He took us on a trip to a fishery where trout are farmed. It was very interesting to see how thankful and respectful he was to the fishery employees. He spoke at the end of the show how the people that produce the foods that we cook should be as highly respected and applauded as the chefs and cooks that prepare it. I really liked that perspective. I think we should most definitely be mindful to where our food is coming from. I love the idea of home farms and growing herbs in window sills.

I wish that could buy a big piece of land and have a little old school cottage. I want a a cute little kitchen and a loft that you climb with a ladder... I'd love to have horses, cows, goats and chickens... I wouldn't eat my animals, just love them hehe. I'd grow all my own veggies and just live as much from the earth as possible. I think it'd be awesome to be close to a city so that it wasn't too far out of the way, but still somewhat hidden. That would be so cool.

ANYWAYS! Okay… back to reality :)

I am just really in love with the idea of appreciating where the foods we eat come from, and the love that is put in to them as they are grown... and the love and beauty they hold as they arrive on our plates. I think is something so important in my weight loss. I have learned to look at my food, look at the colors and different ingredients that are there so that I can first taste each one, and then put them all together to get the full effect!

For example;

I had a pasta dish at a local Italian Rest. the other night.

In it was:

Artichoke hearts

Capers

Red Bell Pepper

Olive Oil

Shrimp

I think a little white wine vinegar

on a bed of Angel Hair Pasta

I first tasted the Artichoke, then a caper, then a bell pepper, then a buttery shrimp and some delicious homemade pasta! MMMMM! I wanted to know what I was eating, then what each flavor brought to the mean, next I wanted to put a little of everything on my fork and try to taste all those flavors at once! It's amazing how some flavors are so INTESIFIED by others. I LOVE IT! Actually TASTING helps me to slow down and enjoy my meal. I'm not always as in a hurry to shovel my food in to my mouth, I can look at it, and taste it, feel the textures and smell the aromas, see the colors... the only thing missing is hearing it come together on the stove... then the plating presentation! OMG its 5D art!

When we auditioned for Worst Cooks, one of my metaphors for what kind of a foodie I was is from the Disney film “Ratatouille”. I saw myself as the "plump" brother, the one that just stuffed the food in his mouth without tasting it, or even caring what it was. I can now say that I have changed that bad habit, and I enjoy the complete dining experience.

XOXO

Sophia Ayala Gettys